CHRISTIAN SHORT STORIES - SNIPPET # 1

With my manuscript for my second Christian writing endeavor entitled, “Christian Short Stories,” having a total of 24 stories, I've decided to post an example periodically of what I’ve written so far. In this one, the letters of the prompt are being used to begin the first word of each sentence.

Your feedback would be appreciated.

Remember, I usually post reviews here for the Christian books I’ve read/reviewed. So far this year 66 of the 160 books [over 40%] have been for Christian books. To read these reviews, you’re invited to check them out at:

https://tinyurl.com/y83l8h4m

Have a BLESSED SUNDAY with your families.

PROMPT WORD = BEACH

DID A RAPTURE TAKE PLACE HERE ?

Brian Spector has a 40th-anniversary gift for his dying wife Joyce fulfilled his promise of taking her the Holy Land, Israel one day,

Everything he planned for their stay there had been thought out and planned to the nth degree.

After arriving at their hotel in Jerusalem and resting a bit, Brian started to take Joyce on the itinerary he had so painfully planned.

Crossing back and forth, from town to town, these two followed wherever the Lord had traveled to during his short life here on earth.

Happenstances caused Brian to change his plans on their last day, and instead of going to Bethlehem, he took Joyce to a BEACH on the Sea of Galilee [Tiberias]. There on the sands, they sat peacefully talking about the fabulous time they’ve had living together, raising their children and grandchildren as devout Christians, when all of a sudden Joyce went silent. Brian looked at his wife and instead of seeing her looking forward, he saw her looking towards the heavens with a huge peaceful smile on her face. When he tried touching her, she didn’t move but remained motionless with her eyes still looking towards the sky and the smile still frozen on her face.

Then came the dreaded, yet consoling, realization that his dear wife had died peacefully sitting there. Given the location, and being a devout Christian, Brian began to wonder whether his wife had actually seen the Lord during the last final minutes of her life, just as His disciplines saw him during his third post-resurrection appearance, as stated in John 21.

STATUS REPORT # 149

THINGS ARE CHANGING

With the way things are changing with me I’m going try to be brief. To begin with I’ve already read/reviewed about 60% of the books I usually do; and while I’ve done a few more reviews. I still behind in posting 8 reviews to my two blog sites.

Last time I’d mentioned I’m up to 13 Chapters, 66 pages with approximately 15,100 words [the formatting for the Word Document for the book is that of a regular book] for my debut YA Christian romance novella, I completed this chapter by adding about 500 new words, the page count has only increased by ONE page since the prior last page only had three lines in it. Currently the manuscript is about 62.3% complete and hopefully now will be completed by the end of next month [August 31^st].

I’ve changed what I’m writing for my second Christian book. After reviewing the Flash Fictions I’ve already written I’ve decided to scrap most of them, and now will be writing short stories instead. Taking the Flash Fictions, I decided to keep I’ve expanded them in order to give each one some more meat to the stories themselves. I’ve devoted the majority of my time since my last post in writing these stories, and at the present time I’ve got a total of 24, ranging from 1 to 5 pages and from 171 to 950 words. The concept for each story is the same, they’re all being written around a prompt where the letters of the prompt form the beginnings of each of the words which begin each of the sentences, or where it forms part of the theme of the story connected to the prompt. I'm planning to complete this Christian endeavor at the same time as my other one so I can have a DOUBLE RELEASE on the same day. Both of these books will be published under R. L. Morgan in order to keep this genre of books separate from those being published under Robin Leigh Morgan.

REMEMBER, if you’re ever looking for the next book for you or your child to read, I got 1,161 reviews now on Amazon.com at

https://tinyurl.com/y83l8h4m

BTW – my other writing endeavors are more or less on the back burners, although I might be checking them out if I get a chance.

STATUS REPORT # 148

MY WRITING PLANS HAVE DEFINITELY CHANGED

Last year, after reading/reviewing several Christian books I had gotten the urge to write my own.

With that urge, I began writing my debut YA/NA Christian romance novella entitled “It Had All Been a Game.” As I wrote in a previous post, after a brief interlude I’ve returned writing it. At the present time, I’m up to 13 Chapters, 66 pages with approximately 15,100 words [the formatting for the Word Document for the book is that of a regular book]. Currently, the manuscript is about 60% complete and hopefully will be completed in about the next 2/3 weeks.

The second Christian I’d planned to write would have been a collection of 40 poems and 40 flash fiction stories. When I stopped writing due to a serious issue which had cropped up, I had completed writing the poems, and need 11 more stories to have completed writing that portion of the book.

Since the basis for the poems had been derived from church hymns, a Christian sister advised me there might a copyright issue regarding those hymns. So, after an extensive search which revealed nothing positive which I could avail myself of to use in including what I’ve written, I’ve finally decided to take the safe course by not including these poems in my endeavor. With only 29 stories written, I’ve realized I’ll need at 31 more stories in order to make the book more substantial with what it’s offering on its page. And I’m asking you, my readers, to provide me with prompt words I can consider using in writing these addition stories.

With everything that’s going on in my life, I’ve fallen behind in posting the reviews I've written and at the present time, my backlog stands at 8 reviews, for which I’ll be catching up on during the next few days.

STATUS REPORT # 147

The second half of this year has gotten to a slow beginning; however, progress now has movement in what I’d planned to do is starting to take half.

I’ve begun to post copies of the reviews written indicating how many books I’ve reviewed so far this year and how many of these have been for Christian books. The only issue I’ve got pertaining to this is that in order for me to show movement in the other areas I want to accomplish, I’ve created a backlog of 5 reviews which I still need to post here. When I post a review, I would appreciate a little feedback so I’m able to know there’s someone is actually reading these reviews.

An area I’m finally where I’ve begun moving forward on is one of my writing endeavors of which I’ve got five.  With all of the Christian books I’ve reviewed so far this year [64 out of a total 157 books, or about 41%], I’ve decided to work one of the two Christian I’m planning to write.

The Christian book, I’m currently writing is a YA/NA Christian second chance romance novella, with a working title of “It Had All Been a Game.” Since July 6^th, I’ve written 4 chapters, consisting of 13 pages and approximately 2.800 words, resulting in the book being about 59% completed, based on the projected length of 25,000 words. Given the genre of this endeavor is different from the other ones I’ve already written I’ll be writing all my Christian books under the name of R L Morgan.

As of today, according to the figures on Amazon, I’ve already reviewed 1,158 books since officially becoming a book reviewer, 5 years ago next month. Not bad for a 2nd-second career since retiring 9 ½ years ago. Both my reading/reviewing books in addition to my writing books is helping to keep this aging mind, young and active.

If anyone is interested in interviewing me for their blog or website, I’m available on a first-come basis, just send me a direct message through my Twitter account.

O X O X O X O X

Robin Leigh Morgan

BOOK REVIEW # 2019-152 - Allie Ritch - "Bare Season (Children of Nanook Book 4)

DON’T LET THE BAGGAGE FROM YOUR PAST KEEP YOU FROM FINDING THE LOVE YOU WERE MEANT TO HAVE

I’d won a Mobi.file of this book from the author some time ago through a giveaway she had on the TRR [The Romance Reviews] website; however, it had gotten lost in the myriad of books I read/review until recently. The following is my honest opinion.

There’s an old idiom which goes: Once bitten/burned, twice shy. The meaning of which is that once a person has had a bad experience regarding something in their life, they would prefer never to experience it again. And it is this same idiom which befits the female protagonist [Idonea] in this story, not once, but twice.

For starters she’s deadly petrified of bears having already been assaulted by one; and as far as men are concerned, she’s become quite cynical regarding all members of the sex after having relations with a few of them.

Having already read a few shape-shifting stories in my days, just as many of you reading this review might have read as well; one thing is certain, once the male of the species has set their eyes on his perfect mate, nothing will be able to stop their quest in obtaining that mate.

Shape-shifting males in search of a mate are looking for one keen attribute for her to possess, the scent of her body; and for Massak it’s the scent which Indonea’s naturally emits. One small whiff of her at the beginning of the winter mating season is all that he needed to realize she’s meant to be his forever mate, as his natural primeval drives begin to emerge from their hibernation.

Taking his human form, he approaches Indonea using his diverse inventory of natural skills. At first, she’s reluctant to respond to his presence; but with his beguiling ways, she lets her guard down and allows him in. When Massak shape-shifts for the first time, she’s frightened. But as moments pass Indonea senses a calming presence and she begins to pet and scratch the bear he’s shape-shifted to beyond his ears; just as we would do to our dogs and cats.

When they arrive at her home outside her village, their hot, steamy love making begins in earnest, culminating with the realization that each has found their HEA mate.

Given the kind of books I’ve been reading/reviewing recently, I had to let my erotic personae read /review this book.

Ms. Ritch’s vivid erotic style of writing puts her readers, as it did me, into Indonea’s shoes with many of us physically responding to the hot, steamy love-making which occurs within the pages of this book, for which I’ve given the author the 5 STARS she’s garnered from this book.  

https://www.amazon.com/review/R14G3UYB7L5XFE

FEEDBACK IS WELCOME

BOOK REVIEW # 2019-151 - Anitha Rathod = "Shelly's Stocking Goes Missing"

IT’S CHRISTMAS IN JULY AS YOU READ THIS BOOK

I received a Mobi.file copy of this book from the author through a giveaway she had on LibraryThing, and the following is my honest opinion.

The moment my inner-child began reading this book, it immediately thought of Christmas and the poem ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, especially when it mentioned the stockings being hung with care, in the hopes that St. Nicholas will soon be there.

Shelly, remembering she had no stocking to leave for Santa so he can fill in with all sorts of candy and other goodies, she began to make her own; and leaves it hanging by her window, Like all children, wanting to see him, Shelly tries to stay up but as expected falls asleep.

This is a marvelous enchanting book for its young readers, it’s filled with the magic and spirit of Christmas, especially that of sharing; and with the stocking becoming alive and going off on a journey hoping to get itself filled and then returning home before Shelly would get up Christmas morning.

Does the stocking get itself filled? Is the stocking able to find its way back home after flying and traveling all over town? Who does it meet so it can get the instructions to go back to Shelly from?

Being July, it’s hazy, hot and humid outside; reading a Christmas book at this time makes you wish it was December with the holiday quickly approaching. The rhyming in this book captures and holds the young reader’s interest; just as it did for me when I was a young child reading the poem I mentioned at the beginning of my review.

For creating the Christmas spirit for her readers now, both young and old, I’m happy to give the author, Anitha Rathod, the 5 STAR rating she’s gotten from this reviewer and my inner-child.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R12OCEI1ZQO05G

FEEDBACK IS WELCOME

CHRISTIAN BOOK REVIEW # 2019-062 - Jocelyn Soriano - "Poems of Love and Letting Go"

This is also the 150th book I've reviewed so far this year

IF YOU HAVEN’T EXPERIENCED THE ESSENCE OF THESE POEMS, YOU SHOULD

I received a Mobi.file of this book from the author in connection with another book for which she had a giveaway on LibraryThing, and the following is my honest opinion.

I love listening to folksongs from different cultures, especially when they’ve been translated into English. One of these songs came to my mind as I read this book. The song is a Jewish folksong from the 1930scalled Tumbalalaika, and in this song, a perplexed young lad is up the entire night thinking about whom he should take and not shame, [Think marriage]

When he sees a young girl, he stops and asks her three questions regarding love:

What can grow, grow without rain?

What can burn and never end?
What can yearn, cry without tears?

She looks at this foolish lad and tells him:

A stone can grow, grow without rain.

Love can burn and never end.
A heart can yearn, cry without tears.

The poems which the author, Jocelyn Soriano, has written for this book echoes the questions of this song; especially when one considers that in love some tears must be shed somewhere along the way. These poems come from the author’s own life’s experiences; which anyone, especially women can relate to as they mirror the events in their own lives as well.

Just read the sampling of her poems in the book’s preview pages and you’ll quickly see that I’m correct in what I’ve just said. For having given me and her readers a collection of poetry which can lift one’s spirits and be rather emotional, I’ve given Ms. Soriano the 5 STARS she’s gotten from this reviewer.

FEEDBACK IS WELCOMED !!!

CHRISTIAN BOOK REVIEW #2019-061 - Rev. Ezekiel King - "Unmasking and Defeating Demons..."

This is also the 148^th book I’ve reviewed this year

BECOMING A DEMON WARRIOR FOR THE LORD

I read this book via an Amazon KINDLE Unlimited download.

As Christians, you know quite that we must listen seriously to what’s written in LUKE 21:8 [KJV]

“And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.”

Ever since the Garden of Eden, when the serpent coerced Eve and Adam to eat the fruit of the forbidden, we’ve been continuously attacked by Satan and his minions to order to get us to be led astray from the righteous path the Lord wants us to follow.

These minions can disguise themselves as anything they desired in order to achieve their nefarious goals. They’re quite formidable, are the total antithesis of the Lord’s angels, especially when it concerns us as humans [the Lord’s children]; and the worst thing of all is that they’re invisible to each one of us.

The only way we can understand what there is to know about unmasking and defeating them is for us to be educated. I believe one of the major reasons that was driving the author, Rev. Ezekiel King, to write this book has been to fulfill the Lord’s instruction that can be found in DEUTERONOMY 11:19 [ESV]:

“You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”

From his experiences, Rev. King has gleaned countless questions covering a myriad of topics regarding demons; has placed 150 of them along with all of the answers in this highly informative book. I believe it is his hope that those of us who read this book will become the Demon Warriors the Lord wants us to be.

For wanting this from his readers, as a rather voracious reviewer of Christian books, it gratifies me to give Rev. King the 5 STAR rating he deserves.

Here’s the link to the book review on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/review/R1UGA7CUVD6N7B

Feedback is welcomed.

BOOK REVIEW 2019-147 = Paul Larkin’s “How to Write a Story..."

As promised I'm starting to post a copy of my book reviews here on my blog.

I’d won a Mobi.file copy of this book from the author through a giveaway he had on LibraryThing, and the following is my honest opinion.

Being an author of several books, including a YA Paranormal romance and an erotic novella, I’ve learned that there are components crucial to both genres, despite their differences.

This book looks at writing a story, not from the POV [point of view] of today’s authors, but from the time of creation when no stories had existed. Instead of stories, let’s look at something quite trivial for a brief moment, such as the wheel. In order for the wheel to have been invented, questions needed to get answered before it could finally come into existence. Now with the wheel’s existence being present, individuals have kept on tweaking it, to achieve an individualistic desired appearance.

Getting back to the writing of stories, a variety of forces interact to create the building blocks for each one, including that of the genre. According to the author, Paul Larkin, there are essentially five different storylines for any story along with seven possible different types of characters that are plausible to exist in these stories.

Coming from own experience, agreeing with the author, in writing and moreover having read/reviewed over 1,100 books, stories much have some plot twists which ensure to captivate and maintain a reader’s interest so they’ll keep turning the pages of the book until the story’s climax has been reached. And within these plot twists, there’s also the proverbial need of some conflict, regardless of how substantial or minuscule it might be.

This naturally brings us to the all-important language that’s being used in the text itself; boring dull language doesn’t cut the mustard it needs to be somewhat provocative in order to grab and maintain a reader’s interest from the first page to the last.

For wanting to inform his readers, whether they’re aspiring authors, have a few books already under their belts or just interested in the subject matter of how to write a story from a different approach or POV; I’ve given Mr. Larkin the 5 STAR rating he’s gotten.

Link to my review & book on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/review/R34D4O5OPDICGI